First Broadcast

"Whoa... is that Woo Yeon-woo?"

PD Kim Mu-rok, who had been staring intently at the monitor from the sub-control room, asked the question. The people who had been standing around in a daze only then snapped back to their senses and answered.

"Yes, that's Yeon-woo."

"The one who's been all over the internet lately... you know, that guy?"

"I know. I'm asking because I know. I booked him because I know."

PD Kim Mu-rok clicked his tongue at being treated like some fossil, then turned his gaze back to the monitor.

None of the others knew, but PD Kim Mu-rok had been told that Yeon-woo would perform in a church choir style. The moment he first heard the words "church choir," he had clicked his tongue. So since nothing works anyway, he's just committing to a weird gimmick and pushing it hard, huh? — that was what he'd assumed. But now that he was actually watching the stage...

"Not bad. Visuals, storytelling, vocals, buzz — it's all good."

He marveled again and again.

When he'd heard that a song drowning in arrogant 'look how rich I am' flex slang was going to be sung like a church hymn, he'd wondered if the kid had lost his mind. But the stage had been cleverly calculated.

Who would have thought he'd flip every single line of the lyrics into complete irony?

Even as Yeon-woo flaunted his wealth, his abilities, his popularity, and his looks on stage, he somehow seemed hollow instead.

When the stage ended, the sound of the staff applauding bled into the audio feed.

PD Kim Mu-rok beamed as he watched, then spoke.

"I've decided."

The assistant director looked at him with a puzzled face. Decided what, exactly?

PD Kim Mu-rok said that while it was already an agreed-upon matter with the agency, he was going to give Woo Yeon-woo the Devil's Editing treatment. Not every staff member knew the details, but all of the directors did. Had he changed his mind at this late stage?

He hadn't changed his mind at all.

"A genius with a rotten personality. A scummy little punk, but so talented you can't tear him down."

He had simply changed direction.

The assistant director, who hadn't caught on right away, asked, "Sorry?"

PD Kim Mu-rok said, practically rubbing his hands together with glee.

"Let's edit in this direction. It's going to come out beautifully!"

After finishing the competition, Rembrary said his goodbyes to Eun-seon and climbed into the car. Having spent a whole week together, he'd grown rather fond of and comfortable with her — but there was nothing to meet for until the following Monday, when the competition results would be announced.

Privately he wanted to exchange contact information, but Jong-woo kept glaring daggers at him, so it never happened.

Once in the car, Jong-woo pounded Cathy and Rembrary on the backs, his face glowing with gratitude.

"You did great. You both worked hard. Let's just rest for a day."

"A day? Isn't the next filming next week?"

"We need to start prepping the new song soon. Friday, Saturday, Sunday music show appearances are already booked."

Rembrary was flustered, but Cathy pumped his fist in delight.

"I'd love it if our schedule was packed even if I only got three hours of sleep a day."

Rembrary asked, bewildered.

"A new song?"

He vaguely remembered hearing something about how they might not be able to release one. Jong-woo suddenly bringing up a new song felt out of nowhere.

"The CEO said that once the program airs, your faces will get known, so we should drop a new song right away."

"Right away?"

"Right away. Well, not actually right away — we still have to hire a composer and lyricist. But either way, this time we're pushing a new song out with no break in between."

Did the actors and performers of my original world keep schedules like this too? Rembrary found himself wondering. Of course, at present there was no way to find out.

And that day, back at the dorm, Rembrary sprawled around doing nothing at all, letting the hours slip by.

I need to return to my original world... I need to find a way back...

If he kept living like this, would he ever find the time to look?

The next day.

Rembrary shot upright the instant the alarm rang, washed with military precision, and got dressed. With no schedule at the salon, he instead waited for the members and climbed into the car clutching his breakfast — one chicken breast and a plate of salad.

They arrived at the agency, greeted the staff, and headed to the practice room, where it was practice, practice, and more practice. The only difference from the previous week was that this time they were rehearsing Wild Animal's choreography again.

They said a new song was coming, yet the practice material was the same as ever. When Rembrary asked Jung-seo about it, Jung-seo explained patiently.

"Even making one album involves a complicated process. It'd be great to use a famous composer and lyricist, but those people have their own schedules, and even if you successfully book them, a song doesn't just appear on the spot."

"Ah."

"After we receive the song, we have to practice it, record it, then choreograph it. And we have to shoot the music video too, remember."

"How complicated."

They were still in the middle of Jung-seo's explanation of the album-making process when Hye-gyeol, who had stepped out to the bathroom for a moment, came bursting back in.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"Did you see this?"

He thrust his phone out toward Yeon-woo.

"Hyung, your face is on it!"

What Hye-gyeol showed him was the very first screen Rembrary saw whenever he connected to the internet. A rectangular advertisement always drifted across the top of that screen. And astonishingly, just as Hye-gyeol said, today Yeon-woo's face was there.

"Oho? So that's me!"

One of the other two was Sunwoo Sil; the other was a contestant he'd exchanged a brief greeting with on the day of the mission song announcement, whom he'd assumed was only there for the pre-meeting.

As he watched in surprise, the screen slid past and a different banner appeared.

Hye-gyeol muttered, "Ugh, cringe," and swore under his breath. Then the screen changed again — this time all twenty contestants were shown.

"Look, look at this."

Cathy grabbed the phone, jabbed at something, and held the screen back out in front of Rembrary. Before he knew it, the other members had gathered around too, all of them staring at the tiny screen together.

"The broadcast is tonight at eleven, and three pre-release videos just dropped."

Tae-in's eyes gleamed as he asked.

"Are you and Cathy in them?"

"No. I watched, and you're not. Apparently all the unaired contestant footage gets released after broadcast, though."

The members, all worked up, threw in their comments one by one.

Cathy, whose nerves seemed to be kicking in again, had gone pale-faced once more.

That night at eleven o'clock, instead of spending the evening separately, the members huddled together on the sofa and turned on the TV.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠same hour.

CEO Im, Jong-woo, and a handful of staff had also stayed behind at the company, crowding into the screening room. They were there to check exactly how the broadcast had turned out.

Unlike the members watching TV in comfort, they held notepads in hand or had their phone memo apps open.

Though there was no footage of Cathy and Yeon-woo for the coming week, Jong-woo, CEO Im, and the staff would have to keep monitoring song sales, viewer reactions, even YouTube view counts for the next seven days.

"Here we go."

At last the ads ended and the program began, and CEO Im nervously popped a candy into his mouth.

The first scene showed the twenty contestants gathering ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the designated meeting spot.

CEO Im let out an aigoo right from the very first shot. Yeon-woo and Cathy came on screen first — because, having assumed it was just the pre-meeting, they had arrived earliest of all.

"Still, this part's fine. This is fine."

The image of Yeon-woo and Cathy standing around awkwardly like a pair of lost ducklings waiting for Jong-woo carried the endearing, clumsy innocence peculiar to young men their age.

And then Sunwoo Sil appeared...

Before the next scene even rolled, Jong-woo swallowed dryly, glancing at the CEO's face. He could predict exactly what was coming.

And sure enough — just as Jong-woo expected, it was the Sunwoo Sil scene.

Sunwoo Sil approaches Yeon-woo. Yeon-woo stares at him in astonishment. He compares his own phone photo with Sunwoo Sil's face and declares that they look nothing alike.

A strangled groan escaped CEO Im, and Jong-woo shrank into himself.

PD Kim Mu-rok had promised Devil's Editing, but watching it for real, Yeon-woo genuinely looked like he had no idea who Sunwoo Sil was. On broadcast, it read as if he were cheekily pretending innocence while making a fool of his senior.

"How are people reacting?"

When CEO Im asked, the staffer monitoring real-time comments on a tablet immediately held the screen out to him.

"Here you go, sir."

While he had consented to the Devil's Editing, Jong-woo felt a little wronged all the same. After all, Yeon-woo had gotten along well with the other contestants afterward — and every trace of that had been edited clean out.

Cathy's screen time was practically nonexistent.

Then came the practice mission footage, and even the scene where Yeon-woo declared he would sing in church choir style was nowhere to be found. Instead, all that aired was a single moment: asked by Eun-seon whether he wasn't nervous, Yeon-woo arrogantly replying that he wasn't.

The practice footage, by contrast, gave a bit more weight to Cathy's side.

And then, at last — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the day of the competition.

Perhaps because he'd been exceptionally nervous that day, this segment showed Cathy vomiting and visibly falling apart.

"Cathy did well at the competition, right?"

"Yes."

"They must be deliberately staging drama for us. They included a lot of him struggling."

Fewer contestants appeared in this part, and the scene of Yeon-woo comforting Cathy had naturally been cut entirely.

Next came the competition stage footage.

CEO Im alternated between chewing and sucking his candy as he glared holes into the screen. He'd been told the performance went well, but he still worried how it would come across.

When Cathy's segment ended, CEO Im let out a sigh of relief first of all.

"They edited him kindly. He came across as a hard worker who succeeds. The reactions?"

"Uh... real-time response is good, sir. A lot of people are saying it feels like a drama."

CEO Im nodded. Yeon-woo had the most buzz, but since he was only half-invested in him at the moment, they needed to focus on the other members for the long game.

However, after watching Sunwoo Sil's performance, CEO Im's expression grew even darker. It was a slot that would have been wasted even behind the weakest contestant on the show — and of all people, he'd been placed after Sunwoo Sil.

But the moment the competition footage began, everyone in the room froze — CEO Im, and even the staffer monitoring reactions.

Jong-woo, despite this being his second viewing, sat gaping blankly.

Out of their sight, the real-time comments on the tablet were rocketing upward at a staggering speed.

When the performance ended, CEO Im found himself on his feet without realizing it. Jong-woo, equally dazed, mumbled,

"Huh? Huh?"

It had been an exceptional performance to begin with — and PD Kim Mu-rok had edited it to shine even brighter. So much for all that Devil's Editing talk. At least in this scene, there was none of it.

Footage kept rolling of the watching staff recoiling in shock, of other contestants in the waiting room gaping at the monitor — all cut together so that everyone appeared utterly stunned by Yeon-woo's performance. It had been edited to make him stand out even more than the other contestants.

After the first broadcast ended, CEO Im quietly spat out his candy and clenched his fist.

It was better than he'd imagined. Far better. Above all, Yeon-woo's screen time had been conspicuously the largest.

Thrilled, CEO Im called for Jong-woo.

"Jong-woo. I've picked the concept for the boys' next song."

"Sir?"

"We're going with that."

"The... church choir?"

"A devil disguised as an angel."